


Rings Aren’t Bought, They’re Built

by PinBitch



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: And Pepper Potts Loves Him, Basically I Just Ignore Happy Carrying Around The Ring Since 2008, Canon Divergent, F/M, Fluff, It’s The Fluffiest Damn Thing I’ve Ever Written, Pepperony - Freeform, The Tiniest Little Flavouring Of Angst, Tony Stark Is A Workshop Gremlin, it’s just soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24058087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinBitch/pseuds/PinBitch
Summary: “Tony, what are you doing?” says Pepper as she enters the workshop.He’s hunched secretively over a workbench and when he hears the sound of her voice he jumps and looks up at her guiltily.“Nothing!” he says quickly, in that way that actually meanssomething I don’t want you to know about.***Sometimes Pepper has to pull Tony away from the workshop. He never really seems to mind.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 13
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Coconutice22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coconutice22/gifts).



“Tony, what are you doing?” says Pepper as she enters the workshop.   
  
He’s hunched secretively over a workbench and when he hears the sound of her voice he jumps and looks up at her guiltily.   
  
“Nothing!” he says quickly, in that way that actually means  _ something I don’t want you to know about _ .   
  
She takes a step closer and he’s shoving away the holograms he was working with until all that’s in front of him are a few bits of unidentifiable metal, and something that sparkles when the light hits it. Pepper figures he’ll tell her about it when he’s good and ready and decides to drop the subject in favour of a more pressing problem.   
  
“Do you know what time it is?” she asks.   
  
Tony is especially charming when he’s caught off guard like this. It’s all the more effective because there’s no art to it, he’s just staring at her in confusion and slowly blinking those ridiculous, beautiful, eyes.   
  
“Errr... night? It’s night?”    
  
Pepper laughs and holds out a hand to him. He takes it automatically and pulls her close. His hair is soft but greasy when she runs her fingers through it.   
  
“It’s 3pm,” says Pepper, “and FRIDAY says you haven’t eaten all day.”   
  
“Oh.”   
  
“Yeah,” she says, and plants a light kiss on the top of his head. He smells like motor oil, but she’s loved him long enough by now that she finds that sexy. “Come on, I’ll make you a grilled cheese.”   
  
Tony lets her tug him up and out of the workshop without a single wistful look back at his work and his bots. He just glances at her out of the corner of his eye, then down at their clasped hands, then back up at her again, all with the same soft half smile he reserves for the things that really matter.   
  
“You gonna tell me what you were up to in there?” asks Pepper when she can’t bear to be looked at like that anymore.   
  
“Nope.”   
  
They’re in the living room now and she pushes him down onto a couch.   
  
“Will I like it?” she says.   
  
“I hope so.” His voice is quiet and almost rough, perhaps a little scared.    
  
Pepper’s always been a person who plans. She likes being prepared, she relishes the act of preparation, but she doesn’t want to start planning without him. She doesn’t want to jump the gun. He’ll ask her when he’s ready and not a second before, and she wouldn’t want it any other way. Still, the metal he was tinkering with did look an awful lot like a...   
  
“Okay,” she says. “That’s good.” She turns and heads towards the kitchen, determined not to think about it a second longer. She’ll be happy here with him even if he never asks. “Stay there!” she shoots over her shoulder and Tony makes a hum of agreement.   
  
When she comes back into the living room with the grilled cheese he’s curled up on his side, fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> technically this takes place before chapter one but time isn’t real so 🤷

Tony stares at the loose gems and warped metal cradled in his scarred palm. The last time he saw them he was seventeen, and one of the pillars of his world had just fallen out from under him. He’s still not entirely sure how the wreck that killed his parents had destroyed his mother’s engagement ring, at the time the explanation the coroner had offered just washed over him as he’d focused, unblinking, on the little rubies and sapphires that had popped out of their settings as the soft gold twisted.

All those years ago, he’d gathered the pieces up and carefully dropped them into a little plastic baggie which still held the remains of a quarter ounce of coke. The bag had then been shoved unceremoniously in his mother’s jewellery box and resolutely ignored for nearly twenty years.

But now there’s something in Tony’s life worth facing all those old demons for. Someone.

In actuality she’s been in his life for a long time, but she’s not been his for nearly long enough. He wants forever. He doesn’t even believe in forever, not really. He believes in dirt and worms and oblivion, but she makes him hope for something longer. 

Tony squeezes his hand shut, feeling the remnants of the ring digging into his flesh, and slowly rises from his crouch. He’s been here in the basement of the New York mansion for entirely too long and his muscles twinge in protest. His brain is crowded with memories of this place, of Howard’s sharp tongue and heavy fists, his mother’s distant warmth, Jarvis’ kindness. Tony had packed up the debris of his parents’ lives and left it to gather dust down here, and never realised he’d been laying an emotional trap for himself when he eventually returned.

His throat feels sore, like he’s swallowed a rock and it’s stuck somewhere near his Adam’s apple. It’s time to get out of here, he’s got what he came for.

It’s not until he hears the metallic clunk of the mansion gates closing behind him that Tony finally feels free. Unexpectedly, there’s a lightness in his step and a fluttering just beneath his heart. He’s got what he came for.

Already his mind is sketching out what the reforged ring will look like. He wonders if it would be too egotistical to arrange the sapphires into the shape of the arc reactor and stud the band with rubies to look like the suits. He wonders if that will stop him. Probably not.

Every step away from the mansion is a step towards the home he shares with Pepper, and Tony can’t help the grin that spreads from one corner of his mouth across his whole face. There’s the fear of course, there’s always the fear, that when he presents the ring to her she’ll finally realise how much better than him she can manage. But he also knows she’d be upset to catch him thinking that, and the last thing he ever wants to do is make her upset. So the grin stays, and only gets wider as he gets closer to home.

Despite his sunglasses, a group of kids recognise him as he enters the suburbs. He stops to take a photo with them and only winks mysteriously when they ask why he’s there. If he’s honest, he’s not entirely sure. He’d planned to call Happy to pick him up from the mansion, but the need to escape had been too strong and he’d felt compelled to just keep walking. It had worked, the brisk October wind seems to have blown all the glitches out of his system.

The kids race off, shouting victoriously about their selfie with Iron Man, and Tony breathes a sigh of relief that his mysterious wink successfully covered up the fact he’s a little lost. 

Okay, very lost. 

He fumbles in his pocket for the earpiece that will connect him to JARVIS, and taps twice to activate it once it’s in his ear.

“J, where the hell am I?” he says.

“Outskirts of Queens, Boss,” says FRIDAY.

Tony blinks in surprise. He’s walked a lot further than he thought. He tries to focus on how Queens isn’t really a suburb, and that he’s been going in completely the wrong direction. Tony relishes his harmless mistakes, it’s an opportunity to learn without hurting anyone else like he normally does. And it’s a much better thing to think about than the empty hollow feeling of the loss of JARVIS.

He sighs in defeat, and calls Happy.

They’ve been friends long enough that picking Tony up from a random neighbourhood for no discernible reason doesn’t even register on Happy’s bullshit-o-meter. Tony slides into the car and leans his head against the seat. He’s suddenly tired and his eyes close automatically.

“Did you get it?” asks Happy. 

“Yeah,” Tony mumbles, already half asleep.

When he wakes up they’re in the parking garage under Stark Tower. Happy is shaking him gently, concern lining his face.

“Did you sleep last night?” he says accusingly.

Tony raises his eyebrows lavisciously. He hadn’t slept much, but neither had Pepper. Happy groans and shoves him out of the car.

“Go to bed!” he snaps, and Tony laughs in response.

He steps into his private elevator and gives a jaunty wave to Happy, who glowers fondly at him. As the doors close behind him Tony’s thoughts return to the broken ring in his pocket, and the person he wants to give it to.

It’s not that he thinks anything will particularly change between them if they get married, but the idea of a massive party that’s all about how much he loves Pepper is too good of an opportunity to pass up. The appeal of everyone he knows having to shut up whilst he explains in detail how wonderful she is makes him want to cackle with glee. Plus, there’s a tiny caveman part of him that shivers with delight at the thought of officially and legally belonging only to her.

The elevator stops at his workshop without him even having to ask FRIDAY, and Tony feels a buzz of fondness for the young AI. She’s not JARVIS, but he wouldn’t dare hold that against her. She’s not JARVIS, but he still wrote every line of her code. How could he not love her after that?

“New project, FRI,” he says. “Lock it down, even Pep can’t know about this one.”

“Working on a new suit, Boss?”

Tony draws the broken ring from his pocket. The gems catch the lights of the workshop and throw them back in his face in red and blue. “Not this time,” he says, “this is a surprise.”

The elevator chimes to announce someone’s imminent arrival. There’s only two people who have access to his workshop, and one of them definitely isn’t allowed to see what he’s working on. Tony pulls a ring box from a drawer with one hand, and with the other he closes the holographic file FRIDAY just opened for him. He places the pieces carefully in the box and drops it back in the drawer, sliding it shut just as the elevator opens.

“Hey honey, I’m home,” says Pepper lightly, and Tony’s heart soars. He hopes he never gets used to her calling him that.

All thoughts of rings completely forgotten, Tony crosses the room and gathers Pepper in his arms.

“I missed you,” he says, burying his head in her neck and breathing in the scent of her new jasmine perfume. He bought her that, and he was right, it does smell good on her.

“It’s only been eight hours,” says Pepper, resting her chin on his shoulder and curling the hairs behind his left ear around her finger.

“That’s way too long.”

“You could always come to meetings with me,” Pepper teases, and Tony gives a displeased huff. She pulls away and takes his face in her hands. “I missed you too,” she says, like it’s a confession, and there’s the slightest tinge of red on her freckled cheeks.

Tony beams at her, and her eyes become a little dazed. “I’m so lucky,” she mutters, and before Tony can open his mouth to argue that she’s got it the wrong way round, her lips are on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy birthday coco! 
> 
> i hope you like ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this a good long while ago to cheer my friend who was having a bad day up and never posted it for some reason, but it’s here now!
> 
> i’m honestly shocked by the fluff


End file.
